Curating nostalgic memories of WKBS-48

The Joe Oteri Show originated in Boston and was syndicated to WKBS-48. This advertisement is from 1979. 

Oteri, a prominent defense attorney and larger-than-life character, died in 2020.

I wrote a short post in 2019 about my memories of watching various shows and movies on WKBS-TV, Channel 48, when we lived in Clayton, New Jersey, from 1978 to 1980. The station signed off for good on August 30, 1983, more than 40 years ago. But I'm far from the only one who has happy memories of watching Channel 48 "back in the day."

WKBS-TV comes up frequently as a topic on message boards and in Facebook groups (there's even a group with more than 2,000 members devoted specifically to memories of the channel).

For fun and posterity, I thought I'd gather some internet memories of folks who used to watch Channel 48, including some that align with my childhood experience.

• "Fond memories of the Abbott and Costello movie every Sunday at 12 noon."
• "Getting those UHF stations to tune in clear enough, in the outlying suburbs, with a stationary rooftop antenna, was tricky to say the least!"
• "I can't believe no one has mentioned Star Trek. 48 played a part in bringing Trek back from the dead even if they were only showing old reruns. Some episodes were fresh and nostalgic at the same time. I've read that Trek's popularity in reruns and Star Wars' success helped get the ball rolling on making the first Trek movie."
• "I'm old enough to remember the Roller Derby broadcast on Sunday nights in the 1960s!"
• "48 was also famous for showing old movies on Sundays. I watched a lot of old detective movies along with the Bowery Boys."
• "Captain Philadelphia….great show with Stu Nahan as the Captain"
• "No disrespect to channels 17 & 29, who each had awesome cartoons, but growing up with a tv antenna on the home, channel 48 had the best over-all package."
• "I remember my brother and I watching The Honeymooners and Night Gallery late at night on 48!"
• "I remember seeing listings for Channel 48, but it BARELY could be picked up at our house in Lancaster County. The local Christian station, Channel 49 was too strong"
• "Dickory Doc, played by Aldo Farnese, was on at noon on Channel 48 and showed cartoons to the school kids who came home for lunch. Aldo was also a TV cameraman who worked local professional games."
• "Yes! Battle of the Planets for life! This channel was before its time. Rest in Peace."
• "It was my favorite. It had Creature Double Feature, which started my love of horror movies."
• "Star Blazers!"
• "This is where I got my first exposure to 'Star Trek.' Never saw the show first-run, maybe I saw one episode, but that was all. I started watching the show regularly when it went into syndication. My eighth-grade English teacher used to imitate Spock ... and I had no idea who the guy was imitating. He got insulted when I showed no reaction to his 'fascinating' and 'Indeed' comments. As a result, I was disliked by him because I had no idea who Spock was."
• "Kimba The White Lion followed by Ultraman."
• "I still remember my Dad coming home one night and called all 'the kids' into the room. He said 'watch this,' and produced something that looked liked a coat hanger formed into a circle, attached it to the back of the tv, and — ta da! — 3 new channels, one of which was Channel 48"
• "Watched a lot of Godzilla movies on that channel back then and among other horror movies"
• "While the other kids were outside playing ball and such on a Saturday afternoon, I would hole up inside and watch Creature Double Feature every week ... it gave me nightmares. Everything looks like obvious kitsch-schlock-cheese .... but the HAND is real. And THAT was a whole different level of weird. Still IS, actually."
• "I too was a big Brady Bunch fan and watched on Channel 48. My kid was shocked when I told her that the TV stations would play the national anthem and would shut down for the night."
• "Channel 48 was a great indy: they had the best library of classic movies that you now see on Turner Classic Movies. Former WWDB and WCAU talk-show host Bernie Herman hosted the one o'clock movie. Great kids shows like Captain Philadelphia, Dickory Doc, etc., and home to Star Trek. They were also the first tv home of the Philadelphia Flyers."
• "I was so sad when Channel 48 was taken off the air. Don't laugh at me everybody, but I still put it on Channel 48 just to see if there's another station that took its place. I know, it's crazy."

For more on the history of WKBS-TV, check out the excellent posts on Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia and Flapper Press (by John C. Alsedek).